Footnotes and Fancy Free

[mauricesempine]

Deleted

[mauricesempine]

Okay, twenty-nine people have read this and I feel pretty bad about disappointing them.

My idea is that each post will be a line of a poem--a flowery phrase that typically will not make any sense to the reader. Just like the poems we had to read in English literature.

Footnotes would then be provided by the next poster to 'explain' the previously posted verse so that everyone would understand what the poet meant. Of course, no one would really know if the footnote was valid or not--just like in our English literature courses.

The poster providing the footnote should then provide the next line of the poem. The poster providing the second line would determine if the poem was going to rhyme or be free verse or whatever. In my example (below) I made the first poem rhyme.

At some point, someone would decide that the poem was 'complete' and would add a title and paste the whole poem on his/her post. They should then provide the first line of the next poem. If someone wants to make up a poet's name at any point, feel free to do that.

Confusing huh? Just like English Literature. Come to think of it, a lot of my courses were pretty confusing.

OKay, to start I will demonstrate by providing two lines with one line footnoted. After that, each person should footnote the previously posted line and supply the next line of the poem (or end the poem)

===========

I would aspire to be a stone your fragile toe [1] might bump [2]
Or be the clay you tossed away--a woe begotten lump.

[1] As with most of his poems, digits play an important role
[2]The poet loved his grandmother Eunice, but she never spoke a single word to him in until her 95th birthday--twenty years after this poem was written

[EmilySC]

I would aspire to be a stone your fragile toe [1] might bump [2]
Or be the clay you tossed away--a woe begotten lump[3].
I'd trample on the ants I'd seen you squish between your toes.

[1] As with most of his poems, digits play an important role
[2]The poet loved his grandmother Eunice, but she never spoke a single word to him in until her 95th birthday--twenty years after this poem was written
[3] Eunice's pet name for Harvey Freederstrum was "lumpy." In many of his poems he attempted to put a 'spin' to an obviously derogatory term. "Hey, lumpy" were the only two words she ever spoke to him.

[mauricesempine]

I would aspire to be a stone your fragile toe [1] might bump [2]
Or be the clay you tossed away--a woe begotten lump[3].
I'd trample on the ants[4] I'd seen you squish between your toes[5].
And yearn to be the bumbling bug attending to your rose.

[1] As with most of his poems, digits play an important role
[2]The poet loved his grandmother Eunice, but she never spoke a single word to him until her 95th birthday--twenty years after this poem was written
[3] Eunice's pet name for Harvey Freederstrum was "lumpy." In many of his poems he attempted to put a 'spin' to an obviously derogatory term. "Hey, lumpy" were the only two words she ever spoke to him.
[4] A play on Eunice's sisters, busy homemakers whom Eunice despised. Of course, one of them would have been Harvey's mother, Anastasia Freederstrum, who won the Noregian equivalent to the county fair for her Swiss Apple Pudding Cake three years in a row.
[5] Another digital reference]

[EmilySC]

I would aspire to be a stone your fragile toe [1] might bump [2]
Or be the clay you tossed away--a woe begotten lump[3].
I'd trample on the ants[4] I'd seen you squish between your toes[5].
And yearn to be the bumbling bug attending to your rose[6].

A visit to your resting place renews and shapes my plight.

[1] As with most of his poems, digits play an important role
[2]The poet loved his grandmother Eunice, but she never spoke a single word to him until her 95th birthday--twenty years after this poem was written
[3] Eunice's pet name for Harvey Freederstrum was "lumpy." In many of his poems he attempted to put a 'spin' to an obviously derogatory term. "Hey, lumpy" were the only two words she ever spoke to him.
[4] A play on Eunice's sisters, busy homemakers whom Eunice despised. Of course, one of them would have been Harvey's mother, Anastasia Freederstrum, who won the Noregian equivalent to the county fair for her Swiss Apple Pudding Cake three years in a row.
[5] Another digital reference]
[6]A tragic reference to the flower placed beneath Eunice's hands as she lay in the coffin. The coffin was closed, capturing a bee which buzzed throughout the funeral ceremony. Pathetically, Freederstrum seems to be yearning to join his grandmother in death.

[Bertha Babette]

I would aspire to be a stone your fragile toe [1] might bump [2]
Or be the clay you tossed away--a woe begotten lump[3].
I'd trample on the ants[4] I'd seen you squish between your toes[5].
And yearn to be the bumbling bug attending to your rose[6].

A visit to your resting place renews and shapes my plight.
Drowning in the melancholy created by the site[7]

[1] As with most of his poems, digits play an important role
[2]The poet loved his grandmother Eunice, but she never spoke a single word to him until her 95th birthday--twenty years after this poem was written
[3] Eunice's pet name for Harvey Freederstrum was "lumpy." In many of his poems he attempted to put a 'spin' to an obviously derogatory term. "Hey, lumpy" were the only two words she ever spoke to him.
[4] A play on Eunice's sisters, busy homemakers whom Eunice despised. Of course, one of them would have been Harvey's mother, Anastasia Freederstrum, who won the Noregian equivalent to the county fair for her Swiss Apple Pudding Cake three years in a row.
[5] Another digital reference]
[6]A tragic reference to the flower placed beneath Eunice's hands as she lay in the coffin. The coffin was closed, capturing a bee which buzzed throughout the funeral ceremony. Pathetically, Freederstrum seems to be yearning to join his grandmother in death.
[7] Eunice was buried in lot 27 of the New Jersey Municipal Garbage Center as requested in her will. She wished to be interred "among the remnants of her beloved Hungry Man Turkey tv dinners."

[mauricesempine]

I would aspire to be a stone your fragile toe [1] might bump [2]
Or be the clay you tossed away--a woe begotten lump[3].
I'd trample on the ants[4] I'd seen you squish between your toes[5].
And yearn to be the bumbling bug attending to your rose[6].

A visit to your resting place renews and shapes my plight.
Drowning in the melancholy created by the site[7]
I vainly grasp for flowers as the time[8] evaporates
And the swelling's really better as the butter captivates.

[1] As with most of his poems, digits play an important role
[2]The poet loved his grandmother Eunice, but she never spoke a single word to him until her 95th birthday--twenty years after this poem was written
[3] Eunice's pet name for Harvey Freederstrum was "lumpy." In many of his poems he attempted to put a 'spin' to an obviously derogatory term. "Hey, lumpy" were the only two words she ever spoke to him.
[4] A play on Eunice's sisters, busy homemakers whom Eunice despised. Of course, one of them would have been Harvey's mother, Anastasia Freederstrum, who won the Noregian equivalent to the county fair for her Swiss Apple Pudding Cake three years in a row.
[5] Another digital reference]
[6]A tragic reference to the flower placed beneath Eunice's hands as she lay in the coffin. The coffin was closed, capturing a bee which buzzed throughout the funeral ceremony. Pathetically, Freederstrum seems to be yearning to join his grandmother in death.
[7] Eunice was buried in lot 27 of the New Jersey Municipal Garbage Center as requested in her will. She wished to be interred "among the remnants of her beloved Hungry Man Turkey tv dinners."
[8]The LCD display on Eurnie's microwave came and went as it pleased which didn't please Eunice at all

[EmilySC]

Starting a new poem (no rhyme no meter)

A kindly spirit seemed to perch upon the broken balcony rail

Footnotes
[1]
[2]

[mauricesempine]

A kindly spirit seemed to perch[1] upon the broken balcony rail.
His aching love for Violet enbrazened on his drooping shoulders

Footnotes
[1] The author, Edmund Dredskey, thought fish would evolve into air breathers if taken out like other pets (but only in the rain). His pet perch, Sylvester, lasted ten days, but grew too heavy and bursted the rail on Dredsky's balcony, thus ending the experiment. This tragic poem resulted.
[2]

[StephanieFox]

A kindly spirit seemed to perch[1] upon the broken balcony rail.
His aching love for Violet enbrazened[2] on his drooping shoulders
Nor others[3], without chance or reason
Collect the notes, then move on to other stages


Footnotes
[1] The author, Edmund Dredskey, thought fish would evolve into air breathers if taken out like other pets (but only in the rain). His pet perch, Sylvester, lasted ten days, but grew too heavy and bursted the rail on Dredsky's balcony, thus ending the experiment. This tragic poem resulted.
[2]bruised
[3]
[4]

[mauricesempine]

A kindly spirit seemed to perch[1] upon the broken balcony rail.
His aching love for Violet enbrazened[2] on his drooping shoulders
Nor others[3], without chance or reason
Collect the notes[4], then move on to other stages[5]


Footnotes
[1] The author, Edmund Dredskey, thought fish would evolve into air breathers if taken out like other pets (but only in the rain). His pet perch, Sylvester, lasted ten days, but grew too heavy and bursted the rail on Dredsky's balcony, thus ending the experiment. This tragic poem resulted.
[2]bruised
[3]Dredsky's friendship with composer Beethoven and produce Warblick Antony
[4]Reference to Beethoven
[5]Reference to Antony

Starting Another:
Title: Friendships by E. L. Fowler
If I were a cat[1] and could growl really loud
Which of you varmints would bellow?

Footnotes:
[1] Fowler considered the king of beasts to be simply a scoundrel.

[StephanieFox]

Friendships by E. L. Fowle
If I were a cat[1] and could growl really loud
Which of you varmints would bellow?
The voice[2] of the turtledove or the naked ape laughing
Like a sooty and proper British fellow[3].
Playing with a mouse[4]

Footnotes:
[1] Fowler considered the king of beasts to be simply a scoundrel.
[2] A pun on a Turkish word, voce-vose, meaning elephant
[3] Fellow of the Royal College of Elephant Trainers, of which Fowle's mother was a member.
[4]

[mauricesempine]

Friendships by E. L. Fowle
If I were a cat[1] and could growl really loud
Which of you varmints would bellow?
The voice[2] of the turtledove or the naked ape laughing
Like a sooty and proper British fellow[3].
Playing with a mouse[4]
Brought two kingdoms[5] to their knees
And why would I not think
To pull out a thorn out with my teeth[6]

Footnotes:
[1] Fowler considered the king of beasts to be simply a scoundrel.
[2] A pun on a Turkish word, voce-vose, meaning elephant
[3] Fellow of the Royal College of Elephant Trainers, of which Fowle's mother was a member.
[4] From the classic tale, it is thought
[5] Rome and the jungle empire, most likely
[6] Again Fowle belittle the lion- aiming at his mental prowess rather than his strength

[mauricesempine]

Starting another by Elizabeth Fowle, Elephant Trainer and Part Time Poet

A toeless foot does stamp at mine [1]
Me curls them under foot
But thou, fair snake, lacks these for sure
And canst not swing thy boot

[1] Elizabeth's dream was to teach Fanny to dance the polka

[StephanieFox]

Starting another by Elizabeth Fowle, Elephant Trainer and Part Time Poet

A toeless foot does stamp at mine [1]
Me curls them under foot
But thou, fair snake, lacks these for sure
And canst[2] not swing thy boot
No walleye here, yet cod abound
Two countries, like two cod, [3]
No two alike.

Yet variations abound. Dark and lithe [4]
We dance our lives in jest.[5]
Our cards[6] close to our vest.



[1] Elizabeth's dream was to teach Fanny to dance the polka
[2] a mispelling of the name for the narrow channel between Cape Breton Island and the northeast mainland of Nova Scotia, Canada
[3] Referring both to the Cod Wars between the US and Canada and her split-loyalty between her Canadian mother (an elephant trainer) and her American father, a breeder of exotic mice, the natural enemy of elephants.
[4] Scholars are of two minds; lithe could refer back to the polka or could have simply been another typo. Maybe she meant 'light.' Or 'lite.' (See: Ederhardy, Todd, Mistakes that Changed Literature, Ederhady Press, 1955)
[5]
[6]

[mauricesempine]

Starting another by Elizabeth Fowle, Elephant Trainer and Part Time Poet

A toeless foot does stamp at mine [1]
Me curls them under foot
But thou, fair snake, lacks these for sure
And canst[2] not swing thy boot
No walleye here, yet cod abound
Two countries, like two cod, [3]
No two alike.

Yet variations abound. Dark and lithe [4]
We dance our lives in jest.[5]
Our cards[6] close to our vest.
Preempted by strife[7]
In this our past life[8]
Assured that we outrank the rest.[9]



[1] Elizabeth's dream was to teach Fanny to dance the polka
[2] a mispelling of the name for the narrow channel between Cape Breton Island and the northeast mainland of Nova Scotia, Canada
[3] Referring both to the Cod Wars between the US and Canada and her split-loyalty between her Canadian mother (an elephant trainer) and her American father, a breeder of exotic mice, the natural enemy of elephants.
[4] Scholars are of two minds; lithe could refer back to the polka or could have simply been another typo. Maybe she meant 'light.' Or 'lite.' (See: Ederhardy, Todd, Mistakes that Changed Literature, Ederhady Press, 1955)
[5] Some hold that Ms. Fowle foresaw the presidency of George W.
[6] Alax, Ms. Fowle was not buxom, but was known to allow her elephants to bump those who were
[7] The Fowles, mother and son, held that one does not learn from trouble but irrevocably loses the experience that should have occurred had trouble not come
[8]Another reference to the future choices (by G.W. and others) which she claimed ruined her own life
[9] A limerick format seems to have crept in to this piece at the finish.

[mauricesempine]

Fanny - Thy Grays Astound Me

Thy subtle hues hold shadows tight
Enhance my view, three rings of light[1]

[1] Thought to be a reference to the circus where Elizabeth 'found' Fanny

[StephanieFox]

Fanny - Thy Grays Astound Me

Thy subtle hues hold shadows tight
Enhance my view, three rings of light[1]
That circle 'round the amber[2] moon
And enters softly in my room
Like a patient Martinized[3] upon the table
Eating creatures[2] when they are able.

[1] Thought to be a reference to the circus where Elizabeth 'found' Fanny
[2] Gray
[3] The first of many dry-cleaning references
[4]

[mauricesempine]

Fanny - Thy Grays Astound Me

Thy subtle hues hold shadows tight
Enhance my view, three rings of light[1]
That circle 'round the amber[2] moon
And enters softly in my room
Like a patient Martinized[3] upon the table
Eating creatures[4] when they are able.

Awake, awake, my starchfilled friend
Too stiff to grant thy wary want

[1] Thought to be a reference to the circus where Elizabeth 'found' Fanny
[2] Gray
[3] The first of many dry-cleaning references
[4] Creatures created for her own enjoyment--the latent lizard being the most popular